Before Brady: Love & Other Calamities Romantic Comedy, #3

By Cindy Procter-King

She has one rule. Never date a cop. But he craves so much more than her cupcakes...

Enjoy this steamy and emotional summer wedding romance from RWA Golden Heart finalist Cindy Procter-King!

 

He's speeding into her heart...

Alicia Maxwell feels pulled in a million directions trying to make her cupcake shop a success. Nothing will stand in her way. Especially not sexy cop Brady Jacobs, who gave her a speeding ticket with a twinkle in his eyes. Then claimed he was just doing his job!

 

But when chaos erupts in the weeks before a friend's wedding, Brady turns on the help. And the charm. Ultra-focused Alicia needs neither. Not his fiery touches. Or his sweet kisses. Not—

 

Oh, no, what is happening? Before long, Alicia yearns for Brady's heart and his arms…but has she missed her chance?

Before Brady is Book 3 in Cindy Procter-King's Love & Other Calamities Romantic Comedy series of funny and emotional short romances. Follow Alicia and her girlfriends as they prepare for a wedding and find true love along the way! HEAs guaranteed.

Before Brady is 24000 words

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cindy Procter-King
• Release date: Dec 12, 2023
• ISBN: 9780988088481

Cindy Procter-King

Cindy Procter-King earned a B.A. in English Lit. before unleashing herself on the unsuspecting workforce. She quickly realized her aversion to fluorescent lights and the numbers 9-2-5 wouldn’t earn her kudos from her various bosses. So she moved to a tiny forestry town where she couldn’t find a job—unless you count a stint as a prison secretary. There, she began writing novels, and she hasn’t looked back. Cindy is a Romance Writers of America® Golden Heart finalist and author of poignant contemporary romances and rollicking romantic comedies available at etailers around the world. Her mission in life is to see her surname spelled properly—with an E. That’s P-r-o-c-t-E-r. So take heed. Cindy lives in beautiful British Columbia with her family, a cat obsessed with dripping tap water, and Allie McBeagle.

Book preview

Chapter One

Saturday night, July 15 th

Countdown to Tania and Trey’s wedding: 14 days (unless…)

Ready? Alicia Maxwell asked her assistant, Lettie. They stood in the reception hall kitchen, wearing matching gold T-shirts and mint-green miniskirts. On the other side of the swinging door, three hundred thirtieth anniversary party guests laughed and clapped as the host delivered a heartfelt toast to his wife.

Lettie’s brown eyes widened. Y-yes. The hesitation in the younger woman’s voice suggested otherwise.

Alicia touched her assistant’s arm. Promise you’re not just saying that? Because I can do it. Although she didn’t want to, if it could be helped. Alicia didn’t want Brady Jacobs to catch sight of her at all during his parents’ celebration. Which meant staying in the catering kitchen while Lettie carried in the slicing cake for three large cupcake towers sitting on the dessert table.

Lettie drew in a ragged breath. I’ll make last night up to you if it’s the last thing I do.

Alicia smiled. "I wouldn’t want it to be the last thing you do. Please don’t worry about the first batch of cupcakes. I need you, Lettie. We’re a team."

Lettie shook her head. Her springy curls bounced. You’re my boss. And I’m a nitwit.

That’s not true. Given the twenty-two-year-old’s baking experience and delicious sample cupcakes, Lettie required more supervision than Alicia had expected. Nothing more. We’re both bagged. Flat-out exhausted.

Lettie’s lower lip trembled. Because of me.

"No. Because of my choices." Alicia inhaled, her frustration directed at herself. In her quest to grow Bitty Cakes as quickly as possible, she’d accepted too many catering jobs this summer. Squeezing in the Jacobs anniversary had increased a heavy workload. The stress was doing a number on herself as well as her employees. If Alicia were into assigning blame, she was the nitwit.

Last night, she’d jumped at Lettie’s offer to bake three hundred cupcakes on her own. In hindsight, not a smart move, but Alicia understood Lettie’s need to prove herself. As the baby of the Maxwell family and the only girl out of five kids, Alicia had struggled not to feel singled out, while also somehow getting lost in the mix, since the early death of her mom.

Before abandoning Lettie yesterday to handle the humongous anniversary order, Alicia had described tweaks to the shop’s popular mint chocolate chip recipe. Unfortunately, she’d neglected to highlight an important ingredient adjustment.

Um, yeah. Not so bright.

Believing everything under control, Alicia hurried home to host a friend’s combination bridal shower and bachelorette party. Lettie was to text or call with questions. Alicia hadn’t heard a word.

She should have followed up with her assistant. If the shower hadn’t escalated into a rowdy extravaganza, she would have checked in with Lettie earlier.

As it was, the muscular stripper whipped the women into a frenzy. The winner of the scavenger hunt became enamored with another guest’s brother. The bride took ‘tipsy’ to a new level, which remained a bit of a mystery because Alicia hadn’t noticed Tania tossing them back.

As the festivities wound down, Alicia walked the bride to a nearby park before driving her home. Everything had felt relatively manageable to that point.

Way too long later, she’d spotted her phone dead in her purse. Upon plugging in, several panicked texts and voicemails flooded her screen. Each from an overwhelmed Lettie, requesting Alicia’s help and guidance.

Alicia had needed to redo three…hundred…cupcakes…while her assistant slept off a well-deserved rest.

She stifled a yawn. Let’s put last night behind us, she urged Lettie. How about we channel serenity? She swept up her hands in a reassuring gesture. We’re calm. We’re collected. We take charge of our actions and our lives.

Lettie repeated the motions. "We’re calm. We’re collected. Phew. Thank you, Alicia."

You’re welcome. Alicia stepped to the kitchen’s swinging door and cracked it open. She peered inside the hall.

Twenty feet away, Brady’s mom joined his dad at the decorated podium. The couple addressed the crowd, and a spike of unease skittered up Alicia’s spine. A natural response, she told herself. At this early phase of her business, coordinating desserts for large occasions required every ounce of her focus. Tonight was no different.

Except…except…tonight was different, damn it. Alicia chewed her lip. Although she hadn’t spotted him, knowing Brady Jacobs sat at a family table sent pinpricks of sensation along her limbs and across her face.

She couldn’t allow anything else to go wrong at his parents’ shindig. She hadn’t fully recovered from their last encounter. Obsessing over his unsettling effect on her nervous system took a toll she lacked the time or energy to process.

She focused her attention onto his mom, Maureen. One word from the woman would signal the delivery of the slicing cake.

Dessert! Maureen announced, and cheers filled the enormous room.

Alicia glanced around the hall. The family and friends in attendance spanned generations from a crying baby to a ninety-year-old man. Children played between the crowded tables. Teenagers huddled along a wall. An exasperated-looking woman raced after a toddler clutching a cupcake. The adorable monster squealed with glee each time he evaded the harried woman’s grasp.

Despite the commotion, Don and Maureen Jacobs exchanged loving smiles. The couple planned to feed each other bites of cake, like a bride and groom. Alicia sighed. They were so sweet.

She looked back at Lettie, who picked up the six-inch slicing cake on a sturdy tray.

Piece o’ cake, Lettie said with a grin.

That’s the spirit. Alicia opened the kitchen door, and Lettie walked out.

A boisterous, Hurrah! boomed from the crowd.

Alicia peeked into the hall again, monitoring Lettie’s progress toward the dessert table, situated to the left of Brady’s parents. After accounting for the cupcake theft, two-hundred-ninety-nine tasty desserts adorned the display towers. The edible gold stars Brady’s mom had requested decorated the mint-green frosting spirals. The spangles reminded Alicia of Brady’s police badge. Although his star was silver. And bigger. A lot bigger.

Oh, for—

She shook her head. The size of Brady’s badge wasn’t relevant. Tonight’s cupcakes looked and tasted divine. She had consumed several lopsided extras to make sure.

Her gaze found him—although she hadn’t been looking for the guy. He sat at a round table near the podium, a frown creasing his handsome face. Alicia took in his short-trimmed chestnut-brown hair with a hint of curl at the crown. Her heart did an annoying leap-for-joy thing. Down, girl.

She allowed herself a scan of his broad chest in a white dress shirt before hauling her gaze back up to his expression. Her eyebrows arched. Why was he frowning? Was he surprised she wasn’t bringing in the slicing cake? Was he wondering why she hadn’t shown her face tonight?

Not that it mattered, but let him stew over—uh, consider the ramifications of issuing her a speeding ticket three weeks ago. Yeah, let him.

The moment she’d recognized him at her car window, she’d insisted he not treat her differently from any other driver, even if she was his commander’s daughter. It was embarrassing enough that she hadn’t realized she was traveling well over the posted limit, so intent had she been on locating the supply store his mom had specified for purchasing the edible stars.

True, Alicia had made a valuable new contact in the bakery industry, but the fact remained that Officer Brady Jacobs